A Change of Holiday
by Wafflecat1
Summary: Haven't updated in ages! But the third chapter is up. The family has a brief meeting with the elf, but something is VERY WRONG in Halloween Town...Something oh-so VERY wrong...
1. How It All Began

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A Change of Holiday

By: Wafflecat

A/N: Hi! I took a break from IZ fanfiction, and decided to make a couple of TNBC fics. Who knows? If you all like them, I might make this section a bigger devotion than Zim ^_~. R & R, please?

Disclaimer: All of the TNBC characters belong to Tim Burton. Milk, Eureka, Kellogg, and Muzik are © me ^_^

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Synopsis: Something is amiss in Halloween Town. Milk, Jack Skelligton's youngest daughter, is beginning to loose her eyesight. He begins to wonder why, when everyone in the town begins to loose their abilities. While this is happening in Halloween Town, Christmas Town is having their own problems. None of the elves remember how to build the toys, and even Santa himself is beginning to forget the meaning of Christmas. Muzik, one of Santa's rather annoying helpers, is forced into going to Halloween Town to ask the king if he knows what's happening...

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Ch. 1: How It All Began

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"MI-I-I-I-I-I-LK!!!"

You're probably wondering 'Why in the world is the first words in this fanfic 'MILK'?!' Well, just to make sure my dear readers aren't confused, Milk is the youngest child of Jack and Sally Skellington. You may be thinking 'Why is she named milk?' or 'Do I have any milk?' If you are thinking of the second response, I suggest you get yourself a nice, tall, glass of Vitamin D, sterilized milk. Or maybe you're like some people, and believe that all of the dairy companies are together in one big hoax to accomplish world domination. 

But back to the story.

Milk, being the curious young girl she was, pestered around her sister's bed, occasionally picking up several pieces of parchment that would fall beside her. Her long, brown hair slightly dragged across the floor as she inspected it carefully. Her skin was a pale blue, long lines of stitches going around several areas of her arms and legs. Her large, brown eyes studied the floor a little bit more before she stood up. She wore a small, black dress, ending a little bit above her knees. Black stockings ran up to her thighs, small black boots tied to her feet. As odd as it may seem for *_most*_ little girl to have, a large, black cap sat on her head, twisted back so that the rim hovered behind her. A small spider sat atop the hat, giving off a nice bouncing effect whenever she walked.

One should wonder 'How could a skeleton and a rag doll ever reproduce?' Well, no one else has ever asked the question a loud, so the author shan't spend her time on explaining the ordeal.

Milk heard the yell again. The slender figure grabbed a hold of Milk's collar, and turned her around. Milk looked up to see her rather aggravated sister, Eureka.

Another odd thing about this family is the appearance of the children. Named after her father's favorite word, Eureka took much after him, as eyeless as a skeleton could be. A large mane-like piece of cloth encircled her neck, completely black. On each tip, a large, round bell laid, rattling every time she shook her head. Eureka often admired her father, reading all of the books in their personal library. She loved Shakespeare, and wrote her own poems, but often liked too be left _alone_.

"Milk..._why _are you in here?"

Milk wined loudly. She flipped up the black comforter that covered Eureka's bed. 

"I can't find Zero. Earlier, I was playing with him, then he ran off back into the house. I've been searching for _HOURS..."_

Eureka's face turned soft. "Did you ask Mom or Dad?"

Milk shook her head. "No..."

"Then why DON'T you, instead of destroying my room? Shouldn't you be in bed anyway..."

Milk glared at her sister. "Fine..."

She turned around and headed for the door before walking headfirst into the wall. It's not a very pleasant feeling whenever you walk into a wall, especially when you're trying to stomp out of a sibling's room, supposedly angry.

"Wha?!"

She turned to the side, and head through the doorway, less disoriented. What had happened was very odd, since the doorway was right in front of her...

Milk walked down the dark hallway, trying to figure out where her parents' room was. The Skellington mansion had many extensions added onto it, ever since Eureka was born. The rooms branched outward into the sky on the one, thin tower, looking very unstable. 

Before I go on, I must tell you about the carpets. They're very sensitive of their feelings, and aren't all that easy to walk on, unless you particularly nice to them. Milk, being in the desperate mood she was in to find Zero, ran across the carpet as fast as she could to reach the top of the tower. The carpets must have been in an ugly mood, for they curled up under her feet just as she got to the end of the hallway.

She fell with a soft _thud_, a low snickering coming from behind her. 

"Where are you going?"

She looked around for the familiar voice. Jack looked down at her, a large grin plastered onto his face.

Milk pouted. Jack could clearly see that the small girl wasn't in the mood for anything humorous. 

"I can't find Zero. Or _anything_ for the matter," she added, waving her right hand in front of her face. "I can barely see my hand in front of my own face!" 

Jack pulled his daughter up to his shoulder, and began to walk back down the hallway. The carpet immediately uncurled itself, allowing the tall skeleton to come to the door at the end. He opened the door, and walked across the room to sit down in his chair. He reached over to the bookshelf beside him, and pulled out a large book labeled "Ozzy Osborne: Murderer, or Self-Proclaimed Bat Master?" He set Milk on his leg, and held the book out in front of her.

"Now tell me...can you read this?"

He flipped open the book to a random page, and pointed at the first line. Milk squinted.

"Urrm....uhh...."

"..."

"N-no."

Jack looked over at her rather suspiciously. He shut the book, and pushed it back into the shelf.

"Go to bed now. I'm going to try to figure this out by tomorrow."

Milk nodded, and jumped out of his grasp. He watched her run out of the room before a loud thud echoed through the hallway, along with a low cry. 

Jack leaned forward, and set his chin in his palm. He had once seen this happen to the town once, but that was at least 300 years ago. It had only happened since there were fewer humans celebrating Halloween. They also began to ignore all of the creaky noises that were under the stairs, and forgot all about the long, slender shadow that was behind them. It took a little rule-breaking to get the humans afraid again, sometimes even going as far as _harming_ them. It was impossible for their world to go into disorder again, not with all of the paranoid people out there. Was it really happening, or maybe Milk's blindness was temporarily? ____________________________________________________________________________________

Kellogg grinned. He stood before the mirror, and adjusted his bat-tie. The pinstripe suit he was wearing fit him perfectly, all the way down from his white skull to his small boots. He looked around the room to make sure no one was coming. He twisted his mouth into the most gruesome grin he could get, and let out a loud shriek. He stared into the mirror as long as he could before returning his face to its normal state. He let his shoulder slump; his expression replaced with a pitiful frown.   


"How can I go out on Halloween night like _this_?"

Kellogg tore off the tie, not bothering to see that it had flown out the window. No matter. Jack had hundreds...

Unfortunately, the young prince didn't notice the sharp tie fly out of the window and bounce off the heads of unsuspecting passerby's. 

He walked around the murky room, occasionally stopping to look up at the high ceiling, wondering if he could get an answer there.

Halloween was only seven days away. Not that he hated the holiday; he was the prince, what could he do? The entire holiday just seemed to fill him with dread ever since the first time he went out on scaring duty. How long ago was that? About seven years? 

The Mayor agreed to assign him to a human-- a small child, at least eight. He was slightly offended at the time that he was assigned to someone older, but went along with the plan. His father and the Behemoth showed him what he should do, and how, but it was all useless in the end when the child had practically _hugged_ and _squeezed_ him to death. Who had ever heard of the soon-to-be Pumpkin King who was loved by his victims because he looked _cute_?

Kellogg looked out the window. The bright, pumpkin-shaped sun's rays stretched out over the spiral hill, a small orange glow surrounding the tip of the curl. He didn't realize how late he had stayed up. He decided to stay in the room until morning, a perfect way to avoid the nightmare he liked to call his _sisters_. It would also buy him some time to get out of the suit before his mother, or even worse, his _father_ to see him in...

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Muzik looked around. Sparkling, white snow surrounded her, going up as high as her thighs. Merry Christmas songs filled the air, along with the smell of fresh-baked goods. She was standing in the middle of a lane, lit up with the bright colors of green, red, yellow, and white. Her heart suddenly began to pound with fear; the fear of having to leave her town to the very horrible Halloween Town.

As soon as Santa was released, he explained to all of his helpers about his capture, and how the residents of Halloween town had tried to do their job, and actually _deliver_ presents. The whole charade ended up a disaster, but nothing could get in the way of Santa. 

Unfortunately, something odd happened after Santa corrected the disorder. One by one, elves began to loose their eyesight, until only a few dozen were able to see in front of their face-- and one of those elves just happened to be the very awkward Muzik. Not a being a very appreciated member of society, it wasn't very hard for her to see why Santa sent her to go meet the Pumpkin King, and not another elf who could still had decent eyesight.

The small elf continued walked down the lane until she was up a tall hill that overlooked the bright town. 

"Goodbye, Christmas Town..."

Muzik slid down the hill, the noise behind her slowly fading away. She jumped up, smoothing out her red costume. The dress included sleeves that went a little bit past her wrists. Her red and white striped stockings protected her legs. Her large, curled shoes thudded on the wet ground as she continued the journey.

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After notes: Yay! I finished the first chapter. One would expect a pre-teen to have enough time to write as much as she wanted to, but it doesn't work for me. The only real time I can write is late at night; I still don't have a lot of time even then. Oh well. I'll try to get the second chapter up soon...that is, if you like it ^^; Oh yes. Sally _WILL_ be in the second chapter!

Sorry C! ;-; I was too anxious to post the fic to wait until tomorrow to post it ^__^ For give me? x_X;


	2. The Strange Visitor

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A Change of Holiday

A/N: Here I am again, up at 1:30 a.m., typing up a NBC fic. I'm just praying that my mom doesn't wake up ready to give me hundred of threats, such as 'WHAT IN THE WOOOORLD ARE YOU DOING UP THIS LATE IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT AND YOU NEED REST AND YOU NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR WORK IN SCHOOL AND WHAT WAS THIS ABOUT THE SAT AND WHAT HAPPENED TODAY IN CAREER ORIENTATION AND WHY DID YOU GET A 'B' IN KEYBOARDING AND WHAT'S THIS ABOUT GETTING A DOMAIN SITE?!?" Hopefully, nothing of that sort will happen...

Oh yes. I originally wanted to post the pics I drew and several others drew for my fic, but they just didn't scan them at the time I was ready to post this fic. I *do* have two pics, but I promise to have more in the third chapter:

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Milk Skellington: (http://www.side7.com/cgi-bin/S7SDB/DisplayImg.pl?INO=216548**)**

The fifth picture of Milk I drew. All colored and inked, it certainly looked better than the test pics I had made for her. She's not wearing her normal attire, but the only difference is that she has purple and white stockings.

...Yes. She's wearing a FUBU© hat.

II's Version: (http://www.side7.com/cgi-bin/S7SDB/DisplayImg.pl?INO=215454**)**

Yes! I really like this pic. Irken Insane did an excellent job at the coloring, if I do say so myself. I like the little bat brooch she added D 

That's all. I am very sorry ;-; Maybe this chapter will make up for it?

Disclaimer: Milkbelongs to me. All of the original char are © Tim Burton.

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Synopsis: The Mayor comes to Jack's house to tell him of the odd thing the witches captured in the forest..

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Ch. 2: The Strange Visitor________________________________________________________________

"Last night, I saw ghost. It wasn't one of those homicidal kinds that'll stalk you throughout the night until their savage spirit is settled, but the kind that taunts you and talks on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about their meaningless plans to destroying you..."

The small girl sat on the edge of the bed, her mouth going 100 miles per second. Jack, who eyes widened every minute of her rambunctious rambling, laid next to Sally, who sat upright, _still_ trying to figure out what the HECK her daughter was talking about.

Milk stopped her chattering, and frowned. "You're not listening to me!"

Sally shook her head out of the trance. She pushed back to sheets, making the small girl jump off of the edge of the bed. 

"Do you realize it's 4:00 a.m.?"

Milk nodded. "Yes, but I don't think the mayor knows that."

Sally smoothed out her pink nightgown. "What do you mean?"

Milk looked down at her black pumpkin-patterned PJ's. She felt Sally pull off the small Hot Topic tag off of the collar.

"What's this about the mayor?"

Milk grinned. "He said that he needed to see dad as quick as possible. I told him he was a-sleepin' but then the ghost came--"

Jack leapt out of the bed, and rushed downstairs. Sally looked over at Milk. They both shrugged; Sally grabbed Milk under her arms, and carried her downstairs, remembering her temporary blindness.

The front door swung open to reveal the edgy Mayor. He was dressed in a baggy, striped nightshirt that covered up his legs and feet. He looked at Jack's own nightwear in much curiosity, shook away the thoughts, and looked up at the king's face. Just before he could say a word, he was rudely interrupted:

"Are you aware that it's 4:00 a.m.?!" Milk demanded. Jack slowly pushed her back through the door with his leg, grinning nervously.

"What's the problem, Mayor?"

The Mayor spun his head around to his depressed face, a large frown plastered on. He looked down at Milk, who was still very mad at his miscalculation of time.

"I'm very sorry about the intrusion," he cried, "but the witches found something very...*interesting* in the woods last night!"

Jack cocked his head in interest. "Yes...?"

The Mayor cried, "It's something that I think you should *see* first."

Jack nodded slightly. He left the doorway, leaving Milk glaring up at the pudgy man (or where she though he was).

"It's 4:04 a.m. ya know!"

Jack came back, now wearing his black boots. The Mayor cocked an eyebrow, but forgot about it.

"Now could you lead me to the Witch's Hut?"

The Mayor nodded, and glided down the steps. Jack walked down the stairway, skipping every two or three steps along the way.

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"Luwin! Hush that human up! She's making too much of a racket..."

Luwin, otherwise known as 'Small Witch' rushed across the room. The walls were filled with slanted, old shelves that held hundreds of different bottles, potions, and unidentifiable objects. Two brooms hung by the wooden door, one small and stubby, the other long and slender. In the middle of the room was a large cauldron, boiling to the brim with a thick, green liquid. Gretna, who was known as 'Big Witch' stirred the brew with a large, wooden spoon.

"Hurry!"

Luwin looked around. Where has that bag gone to? She searched the cupboards, throwing out various bottles.

"In the corner, dear!"

Ahaha! There in a dark corner of the room was a small bag, twirling and bumping around. Angry yells came from within, a voice that wasn't particularly happy.

"Let me out you monsters! Let me see the Pumpkin King! I demand you to take me out of this bag, and let me speak to him right now!"

Luwin dragged the bag up to the cauldron. Gretna looked over at her suspiciously.

"You do know that we can't boil it until Jack comes and inspects it!"

Luwin rolled her eyes, and said in her very high-pitched voice: "I know, but he shouldn't be here for long! We can get her ready for the pot!"

The bag jolted again. 

"Grr-- I will NOT be boiled, or put into a pot under any circumstances! GRRRR, please-- I HAVE A GUN!"

Gretna smacked the bag with her spoon until it went limp. 

A loud knock echoed through the room; Gretna became alert, and motioned for Luwin to open the door.

There stood the great Jack Skellington, still dressed in his black nightwear, a large black cap cascading down his back. Next to him was the Mayor, a small, fat, striped creature who's nightcap was as tall as Jack himself. Luwin stared at the two, trying to register the image that stood before her.

"Urrm...can we come in?" Jack asked tiredly. Luwin nodded as she was mindlessly pushed out of the way, almost getting squished between Jack and the Mayor.

Jack sat in a small chair that sat next to a wobbly table, his legs bet awkwardly up to his chin. The Mayor sat down in the chair beside him, making sure not to fall out.

"Now, please...could you show Jack what you two found in the forest?" he asked.

Gretna cackled under her breath softly. "Well, Luwin and I were out in the forest, looking for ingredients for our latest mixture to help us on Halloween-- you know, so that we can make something really gruesome. I always told Luwin to never look in ditches; the worst toadstools are grown there--"

Jack groaned. "Yes...but what about what you found?"

"Yes!" piped in Luwin. "Well, I was in a ditch, looking for a couple of bushels of Deadly Night Shade--that stuff can REALLY knock you out, you know. One time, I was trying to romance this human another human admired for her soul, and--"

**__**

"But about what you found?!?" cried Jack and the Mayor. Jack was already putting on his Jack-O-Lantern-Face-Of-Doom, while the Mayor swirled his head around to his depressed side. The witches looked at each other, then nodded.

"Well, as Luwin went searching in the ditch, she found a small, weak creature. We thought it was human, but it was very different from other humans. It had green hair, a shade I've never seen a human to have, and long, pointed ears and toes. I woke her up, asking her where she was from...she kept on repeating 'I must see the Pumpkin King!' She wouldn't stop, so we brought her here."

Luwin picked up the bag. She carefully untied the top, pulling the opening open.

Laying very still was a small creature who fit the witches description perfectly: she had large ears that went up a little bit above her head; her messy, green hair was partially covered by a red hat that swung low, just like a nightcap. Her shoes were abnormally long, the tip of the toe ending with a small bell. Her small, red dress was slightly torn. She moved a little bit, obliviously knocked out.

Jack's eyes twinkled. He carefully pried off the creature's hat, and began to toy with it between his bony fingers.

"Why-- don't you see? This is an _ELF! _From Christmas Town! From so long ago...," Jack sighed, reminiscing. Gretna looked at the familiar hat, realizing what he was talking about.

"So you mean this..._elf_ came just to _visit_ us?"

Jack looked down at the body. "Probably so."

Luwin groaned. "And to think-- we were about to cook--" Gretna covered her mouth.

"We're very sorry for your disturbance, Jack!" Gretna apologized, bowing slightly. She watched Jack pick up the small body with extra care.

"I'm going to keep it until she wakes up...then we can see why she came!"

The witches giggled nervously. Jack was getting a tad bit too excited over the elf ordeal, and it was making the two very jittery. Just as Jack and the Mayor were about to walk out, Jack leaned back in, a large grin plastered onto his face.

"Ah, I forgot to ask you. Milk seems to have become blind, and we're not sure how it happened. Do you have anything that may..."

Gretna rushed to a shelf next to her, and handed him a small vial. "Make sure that she applies only _one _drop to each eye, and she should be just fine. Thank you for coming over!"

Jack took the vial, and walked out. Gretna pushed to wooden door closed, and gave out a big sigh of relief.

"Now WHY, my dear sister, were we so nervous?" Luwin asked.

Gretna rubbed her chin. It was, indeed, an odd feeling for a witch to have...

She quickly rubbed it off. They had to continue on their Halloween Project. There was so much to do with only five days left.

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Jack walked on. The overwhelming feeling he had all that long time ago had once came. Why was he feeling this way again? Had he missed all the excitement of Christmas, or merely forgotten what had happened when he himself tried to be Sandy Claws?

He looked off into the pumpkin sunrise, hoping that the peacefulness of the town would last...

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A/N: Hehe! It's now 2:24 a.m. Yahoo. Now for me to slee-- *ZZZ*


	3. Making AcquaintancesA Warning

**A Change of Holiday**

By: Wafflecat 

**A/N:** HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN O_O Wow. I came back to this fic the other day, and really wanted to continue it...so, I decided to! YAY! Thanks to all of the people who reviewed...and to Tandy, for her advice. Leave some, if you think I'm in need of it. Any way, I love reviews. Peace out! 

**Disclaimer:** All of the TNBC characters belong to Tim Burton. Milk, Eureka, Kellogg, and Muzik are © me ^_^...I think o_o 

**Synopsis:** Something is amiss in Halloween Town. Milk, Jack Skelligton's youngest daughter, is beginning to lose her eyesight. He begins to wonder why, when everyone in the town begins to lose their abilities. While this is happening in Halloween Town, Christmas Town is having their own problems. None of the elves remember how to build the toys, and even Santa himself is beginning to forget the meaning of Christmas. Muzik, one of Santa's rather annoying helpers, is forced into going to Halloween Town to ask the king if he knows what's happening... 

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Ch. 3 : Making Acquaintances/A Warning 

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As the sun rose in the awakening Halloween Town, Jack and the Mayor met in the town square, standing next to the fountain. 

"Jack, after you figure this out, I want you to tell me what's going on!" The Mayor was still wearing his nervous face, and was shaking with much vigor. Jack only smiled in reassurance. 

"Don't worry, Mayor. As soon as I find out about this little guy, we'll get everything sorted out." The mayor swiveled his head around back to its happy state. 

"And then we can finish our Halloween planning!" the Mayor exclaimed. Jack rubbed his chin with his free hand and stared into the distance at his house. Hopefully, whatever the elf had reason for coming to Halloween Town wasn't going to disrupt any of the future Halloween plans... 

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Sally sighed. It was 7:30, and Jack still hadn't came back. Everyone in the house had awaken, and things were just starting to get nasty. 

_MOOOOM!!!_

"Here we go," she said silently, yet with sarcasm. She grabbed the hem of her dress and rushed down the flight of stairs, wondering what kind of corruption was taking place in the Skellington household today. The yell had came from the kitchen from Eureka, who was sitting in a chair in front of a pacing Kellogg. 

"What _is_ the reason for all the racket?" Sally asked, placing her hands on her hips. Kellogg still hadn't looked up from the ground, and Eureka still sat in the chair, now quiet. 

"My hand...," Eureka trailed off. Sally looked down at her daughter's quacking hand and watched at she slowly began to pull off her glove. 

"OH!" 

A pale strip of flesh covered the hand, the fingers long and slender. Sally's eyes widened slightly in disbelief as Kellogg raised his head, showing his angry features. 

"Something' s going on here," he said coolly. "Milk has gone blind, and Eureka's turning into a...a...--" 

"HUMAN!!!" she screamed. She quickly slid the glove back into place and placed an arm under her eye sockets, tears streaming. Sally grasped her shoulder and set her chin on her skull. Kellogg crossed his arms and shook his head slowly, closing his eyes. 

"I think it may have something to do with Halloween." 

Sally looked up. "How so?" 

"Well...," he sighed, "If you've noticed, the people of Halloween Town haven't been able to scare as many people as before. For example, when I was ten, I went out on my first scare. I had to scare this boy names John on Halloween night. I tried all the tricks, and did all of the maneuvers. But he just stared at me. After a while, he started saying how cute I was and began to hug me. 

"Basically, I don't think we're scary enough for this generation. Most of the humans don't even believe in monsters that hide under their bed," he said with a slight undertone. "Or believe in walking skeletons." 

"That all may be true," Eureka stated, "but what does that have to do with my _hand?!?_" 

"Perhaps--" 

_"Good morning, everyone!"_ came a loud, happy voice. Jack strode through the front door, the bag slung over his bony shoulder. "I've got good news!" 

"Pffft!" Eureka gave a raspberry, and clenched her wrist. The rest of the family made their way to the living room where Jack had laid the bag in the center of the couch. Eureka trailed behind Sally, watching the overly-excited skeleton untie the bag. 

"Dad, something odd happened--" 

"You won't _believe_ what we found!" Jack exclaimed. Kellogg's opposing finger went limp as he was cut off, and turned his attention toward the spectacle before him. Jack reached his hand into the bag, took grip of whatever was in there, and pulled. 

"Isn't is ama--" 

**"HOLY CRUD!!!"** Eureka covered her mouth and widened her eyes, watching the small elf stir in her unconsciousness. "I mean, LOOK AT IT...What are those thing, shoes?!--" 

The elf shook her head. _It was all just a dream...The witches, the spinning head, the skeleton..._

Muzik opened her eyes. Wearily, she looked up at the faces looming above her. Three skulls were staring intensely at her, one in wonder, one with a scrutinizing expression, and the other with a look of slight disgust. She let out a shrill scream and began to back up into the arm of the couch. 

"Who ARE you people?!" she asked, shivering. Jack grinned, and crossed his arms in satisfaction. 

"I am Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King," he said, "and YOU are an elf from Christmas Town!" 

Muzik's face softened. "You're Jack Skellington? _The_ Jack Skellington?" she asked, out of breath. Jack felt a swell of pride enter his chest, but quickly swallowed it, remembering of the elf's reason of coming to the town. 

"S-santa sent me...," she gulped, "to ask you for help!" 

Jack's happy face faded into a grim frown from confusion. "What for?" 

Muzik gulped. This wasn't too bad. "Well...around Christmas Town, the elves are going blind. No one can see how to build anything, and Santa doesn't know what to do about it. We HAVE to find out what to do before Christmas," she said, "or the children of the world won't be able to receive presents ever again." 

Sally's thoughtful eyes glistened as she heard more about the events happening in Christmas Town. Unfortunately, no one noticed the ghostly figure floating down the staircase, turn the corner, go into the kitchen, and leave through the back door. 

"My, what a strange, strange thing to happen...," Jack said, taking off his sleeping cap. He looked down at himself and laughed, realizing he was still in his sleeping attire. "As if things aren't strange enough..." 

"Dad, I was talking to mom before you came about what I think is the reason for all of the 'weird' events happening in our worlds." Jack looked over at Kellogg, who was leaning against the side of a door pane. "Just so happens, Milk went blind, and Eureka's growing skin." 

"SKIN?!" Jack jumped in surprise when he saw Eureka pull off her glove and wriggle his fingers, looking like a normal human hand. 

"Why, there certainly _IS_ something wrong going on around here!" 

"I think it has something to do with the humans," Kellogg said, feeling more confidence enter his voice. "I mean, look was happened _last year._" 

Everyone twitched. They all remembered what had happened with the Harlequin Demon when he was trying to scare the Reeves Family in Arkansas. The horror... 

"So you believe that the humans are becoming less vulnerable to monsters?" Jack asked. 

"Yes. And maybe the same thing is happening for Christmas Town," Kellogg said, glancing at Muzik, "meaning that less people are celebrating Christmas." 

Jack watched his son with admiration. "My boy, you have a certain knack for solving problems!" 

There was a loud knock at the door. The Mayor broke through, panting heavily. "JACK! YOU HAVE TO COME ***NOW*!"**

Everyone froze. "But why--" 

"Just--COME!" 

Everyone except Muzik fled out of the house down the steps and through the gate to the center of the town. A large crowd of ghouls and monsters surrounded a small oriental shop on a corner, muttering to others and themselves. 

"MAKE WAY FOR THE PUMPKIN KING!" 

The crowd parted for Jack and Kellogg, who easily could have pushed through the crowd them self. The Mayor pushed aside small children, and pointed to the ground. 

"LOOK!" 

Isn't it horrible? 

"Simply dreadful!" 

"I couldn't imagine what could have caused..." Voices filled the air until all fell quiet when the two finally saw what was in front of them. 

There, lying sprawled out on the ground, was Gretna, Luwin, and Milk. Jack 's mouth formed into a large 'O', and he swooped his fingers beneath Milk's body. 

"Wha...what happened?" 

Gretna lifted her head slightly and croaked. "He warned you, Jack Skellington! He warned us all!" Jack looked into the witch's beady eyes as a low growl emitted from her throat. "And now, _**we'll all have to pay!!!"**_

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**After Notes:** Yay! Did I excite you? Did it suck? Did I leave you in suspense in the end? Either way, a review would be nice ^^ Thank you! I promise the next chapter will be very interesting...and more interaction will commence... 


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